TV News - Briefing & initial concepts

With summer slowly fading away, we now jump straight into second year with a really absorbing module to start the first term:TV News! 

Our next 6 weeks will be focused on creating:

- An original online news channel
- A brand targeted to a particular audience
- To design our branded online digital news channel, including:
> Title sequence / GFX / Branded Strapline
> Create a 2 - 2:30 min. news package
> Create a 2 min. Live OB report with a reporter
> Written material on the webpage to support and explain the channel
> Promotional package / Presenter-led teaser trailer

Deadline - 26th October. 

With this unit will come similar work strategies and certain aspects that will of been covered with our last unit that completed, the documentary module. Things such as having to source the story, to tell it, sourcing locations, interviewing, sequencing and getting coverage/ actuality, all the technical aspects, SWEFF, good sound, good lighting, team work, managing appropriately and overall good communication and working relationships.

Also, we will obviously be acquiring new skills and attributes to add to our inventory on this journey, as this format of television is different. 
New things that will be hopefully learnt an projected properly throughout this unit will be:
- Developing an online platform, branding and concepts
- Fast turn-arounds
- Reporting
- Studio presentation/News anchoring
- Sourcing the reporters/presenters

Having looked at work from previous years, we were able to gauge what kind of material was wanted of us, an what not to/to do when creating our pieces of work. Things that were to be considered and taken seriously were:
 - Repetition. Avoid it in the writing, ensure the tone of the script fits with the tone of the brand, subject matter and target audience. 
- maintaining the audiences interest is pivotal.
- PTCs - Piece To Camera's
- Sign-posting - ensuring the narrative is clear, concise and accurate.
- WIIFM (WHATS IN IT FOR ME?) - Making sure your contributors and viewers are on your side, by keeping them interested about your project an ensuing they want to be apart of the film.
- Action/Reaction - capture the context behind what's said and done.


So we were then asked to choose a group which consisted between 3-4 people, and having just came off the documentary unit with a group the same size, we all decided it was best to just stick with the same group aside 1 change. The group consisted of me, Melissa, Katie and Alex. We all knew our strengths and weaknesses so to work collectively as a group we knew what we could get out of eachother and that was one of the major reasons we formed. 

So immediately we began searching for a concept, brainstorming several ideas and trying to develop them. Struggling initially with our approach, whether to form the story from the brand, or form the brand from the story. We decided to go for the comedic narrative, aimed at young people aged 16 - 25. This was partly due to our last project having a too serious tone and aesthetic feel to it. 

Initial ideas - 

FILM/TEVELSION
A potential angle that we wanted to go for was having the focus to be on TV shows an films that're popular currently, talking to people within the industry an having their insight.

POLITICS
Young people and their perspective on the world of politics, to try and attract a younger population/audience into actively engaging with politics and how it all actually comes together.

POTENTIAL NARRATIVES
- Netflix and the rapid growth of its online subscription services. 
- Disproving/Debunking urban myths and social misconceptions. 
- Stopober/Stay Sober, pushing for good health. 

These three concepts were the main focal point within our group discussion. We then discussed the concepts with Helen an along came our basis for the groups digital news platform. We'll produce a comedic channel based on debunking urban myths, one which we intend to explore with great detail, supposed cures for hangovers. Also, more absurd old parents tales, e.g screaming bloody mary 3 times in a bathroom with the lights turned off. 

With the key issue of this news piece being relevance, as journalism plays a huge part in news/current affairs, we needed a story that would bridge the serious, topical side of things, to our comedic kind of angle we were trying to capture. This is why we went with the Stopober campaign, that being the more distinctively serious part to our news story, then incorporating the comedy factor through adding the myths surrounding hangover cures.

With the narrative featuring the Stopober campaign it allowed us then to potentially go to live events which we could cover in a news/journalistic nature. 

We then decided to delegate between ourselves so we could focus on tasks individually. I was given the responsibility to look further into e-cigarettes and vaping, looking at whether this alternative is actually safer than the conventional cigarette? Melissa was tasked with delving into the funnier side of things, researching the bizarre urban myths that we still hear today. Alex was given the task of researching the effects of alcohol, including hangovers and the myths surrounding 'cures' for hangovers. Katie was given the task of researching mythbusting in general, looking at the definitive meaning and what revolves around it. 

With the overall concept kind of coming together, i'm feeling extremely positive and confident in the direction of this project. 

Documentary: Critical Evaluation

Critical Evaluation 
From the very beginning of this unit I thought this was going to be the easiest unit so far of the year,and how wrong could I of been? It's honestly been the most genuine an gripping experience so far as I feel i've gained a lot from it in so many different ways.

Pre-production
The pre-production for this unit went okay, we had a lot of weak ideas and as a team we lacked that real spark and motivation. This changed rapidly though as we got further and deeper into the project, and when things really needed to happen and change, they certainly did. The advice we took on board from Helen & Zoe was greatly appreciated and instantly implemented into our work, and I think that was evident too. We planned our shoot days and who would do what work all through Google Doc, which was a really useful tool throughout this whole process. We split up our work accordingly and each had separate tasks to do for the day/week. Management wise, we were organised and prepared for the majority of this unit. 

Production
On all the shoot days I attended, fortunately, it went to plan and nothing collapsed/descended into anarchy. For each shoot, setting up the lights and cameras would run smoothly and we'd be usually ready to film after about 20-30 minutes. It worked well being delegated roles and having organised schedules to keep us motivated and on task. 

Post-production
The largest part of where all of our efforts went into for definite. We worked many hours on it and hopefully it will do us all justice. there were some great things to take out of the edit and also some learning curves to take away from this also.

What worked?
In my opinion we captured some great GVs and actuality and used it to great effect once in the edit. Our sound used throughout the final edit was perfect fitting for the documentary as we didn't want it to be too harsh as it would contrast with the general uplifting themes throughout. I felt also that we were very appropriate and sensible with our locations when filming our interviews, e.g Alex's grandparents interview being in a warm feeling living room, and the insurance broker being in a professional workplace environment.  

What didn't work?
Throughout the process there were issues with a few things, but nothing that we couldn't fix or go over again. Certain things did put us  in relatively bad complicated situations, the fall through of one of our fairly important interviewees, the instructor. We had actually planned out the full documentary sequence including the instructors pivotal role within it, however we had to think around that and use our initiative to patch things up efficiently. Also, maybe we could of been a bit more experimental with the GVs and actuality footage we had, maybe of shot a few more CUs and XLSs, just giving us more of a variety in the editing suite as I felt it would of definitely aided us coming towards the end of our final edit.

As well, it was trying to find that entertaining narrative that I feel we lacked, it wasn't really that edgy or engaging, but I feel we did best with the resources we had. 

What have I learnt?
I can't put into words the amount of experience on all fronts I have gained from this unit, working within a team, contributing ideas, testing your ideas and being there to help with everything. You get out what you put in and I feel everyone put in 100%, at times maybe below the 90 mark, but we got there in the end and I feel proud for that. I feel that I've got the skills now to actually think through piece by piece, of how to put together, competently, a good level documentary. 

What could I develop?
There is always room for improvement in every department, I have never not thought that. So in truth I think I could develop more of my technical competence, being more knowledgeable with the camera and furthering that skill so that I feel more confident and independent with it. Editing would also be another skill that needs more looking over, with working in a group though it was definitely an advantage as one would do the editing for a day, then the next it would be passed on, and we would critique each others work positively, leaving feedback for one another. But as a whole it is the little things that need further growth which will eventually contribute to the wider implications.   

Conclusion
Finally, I believe that as a whole this unit was a success and with the minor hiccups along the way, we pulled through and together created a documentary which is something to be majorly proud of. I don't think I could of done this unit with any other group, the team I was surrounded by had heaps of energy and passion, especially towards the end of the project which made it all the better. The feedback was acted upon, the idea developed and manifested into a simple yet effective narrative, and we got all the footage we needed to edit a great 10 minute documentary. I'm chuffed to pieces and extremely proud of everyone that was involved. 

Final Cut

The Final Cut

As the day got closer and closer so did our efforts of finishing our last project for the year! Here it is, the final piece all mastered and edited to the T. 
At the beginning of this project we couldn't really get the momentum to push us forward and think relatively fast about a good concept, but with patience and persistence we were able to coin an idea and execute it brilliantly.


The rough cut was very untidy with much needed trimmings and the sound was seriously in need of some help, so we got to work.

I'm pleased with the overall feel of the documentary as I feel it conforms to the generic conventions of what a documentary tends to follow. 

Post Production: Edit - End Sequence

End Sequence

As we had all chipped in editing piece by piece, I then began editing the last sequence to speed up the general process as the deadline was nearing. 

What was quite difficult was trying to find the right cut away's and what would make visual sense of placement. In the end we managed to find suitable candidates for the sequence and it all fitted together beautifully.

What was also reassuring and fortunate was the music we found to accompany the end sequence, after hours of digging on freesound.org, we managed to secure some great audio and make the sequence a great success.

Post Production: Re-shoot

Re-shoot

Having just had our rough cut feedback with Zoe & Sam, we were given some advice on how to make it a more fluid and interesting piece. 

So to make it flow with a increased sense of coherence and greater structure we went out and gathered some more footage. The footage included a lot of establishing shots and more GVs so we could piece together the sequences easier and smoother.

The shooting didn't take too long and we were back in the studios within the next day. 

Also we got some quick shots done in the actual studio of CUs of the keyboard and laptop screen used in the insurance quoting sequence. This was due to previous footage being to overly exposed and unusable. 

I believe the retakes were very necessary and definitely worth the pain of going out there again and getting the right key footage we felt we needed.

Post Production: 1st Edit

First Edit - Feedback

With our first rough cut edit complete, we knew there was still a process of development with the documentary so Zoe viewed it to give us some much needed critical feedback.

Zoe
- The structure was too linear, it needed more creativity from the dull riddled timeline that it currently was. Obviously we just wanted to get everything down on the timeline but this was key to giving us some rather creative inspirations of our own. 
- Make it more interesting and that would be achieved by changing the order of the footage. 

(In the editing suite)

Sam
- Sam agreed with everything Zoe had mentioned above.

- The audio was very sketchy and needed some serious patching up. We knew though that the sound issues would probably come towards the end of the editing as we felt we were fairly confident on how we would resolve those issues. 

As well as this we needed more establishing shots to link up the separate sequences more fluidly and naturally, adding to the general aesthetic and authenticity of the documentary. 

All in all the feedback was on a more positive note than negative, leaving us content with where we were up to at our current stage in the process.

Documentary Filmmakers: Adam Curtis

Documentary Filmmaker: Adam Curtis
Directed: It Felt Like A Kiss (2009), Bitter Lake (2015), HyperNormalisation (2016).

 (Adam Curtis, 61)

The reason I chose to talk about the exceptional documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis is due to the effects his documentaries had on me. I've only seen two (Hypernormalisation & Bitter Lake), but personally I have never been so enthralled with a documentary before, bear in mind that these aren't short documentaries either. 

He touches on subject matter that is extremely sensitive and topical, opens jaw dropping perspectives and revealing daunting facts about the world that we live in. 

(HyperNormalisation - Released 2016)

What I took from both of them visually and applied to my own work was its usage of archive footage, its narration and visuals combining to give greater emphasise on the subject matter.

Documentaries to me, are things that make you want to pause it whilst you watch, and go off for 5 minutes and do some real hardcore researching and digging. The purpose of them is to inform, engage and leave you to question certain things, the narrative of his documentaries tend to be objective, but definitely have you thinking about the morality of the situation.